In the work titled Falls, Okulick for the first time combines large-scale charcoal drawings of images of water. Each drawing depicts the water juxtaposed with an object — some related to water and travel–a steam roller or boat, others inspired by dream or fantasy, such as an upside-down candelabra. It all makes sense in Okulick’s hands. Boats and elegant candelabra in a topsy-turvy world leave not a ripple on the waves. Water, the vehicle of life and transport, provides Okulick an opportunity to explore equations of density and weight. But above all is the quiet of the omnipresent ocean that prevails. Okulick has made the frames for his drawings, the sculptor’s hand creating a perfect window into a private yet universal ocean view. – Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NY
Falls by John Okulick, 1990, Charcoal, Paper, Wood
(located on wall directly across from Helumoa entrance door to promenade)
John Okulick was born in 1947 in New York City, to first generation Italian and Russian parents. His father was in the military and Okulick travelled much of the country as a child, living only a year or two in one place. He received his B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and his M.F.A. from the University of California, Irvine. During graduate school, he proceeded to have his first solo exhibition at the Nancy Hoffman Gallery, NY and then a subsequent show at the Jack Glenn Gallery in CA. Over the decades, he has been widely exhibited in galleries and museum exhibitions. Okulick’s work tends to sit in a space between reality and illusion. He strives to combine materials like high tech metals with more natural materials such as wood, rope, gold leaf and painted surfaces. In the works where he combines drawing and sculpture moves from an illusionistic space to the space between reality and fantasy. It’s this space in between these two worlds that challenges and fascinates Okulick.
